The Moshing Floor

[Image: 'Squint' Front Cover]

Sections:

Lyrics

Pendleton elbows
Stick in my craw
Old Doc Marten
He made me say "ah"

Deck your best partner
Lasses or lads
Don't you feel lucky
In you knee pads?

On the moshing floor
Whatever, whatever
On the moshing floor
Whatever, whatever

Whatever stage, whatever floor
Hangtime, hangtime
And it's 1, 2, 3, 4
What are we diving for?

No guru, no mother
No method, no smile
Nice style, bad form
Is the body still warm?

I wanna see you blink

Shrinks in lab coats
Huddle in the back
Whatcha blaming me for?
I'm just the soundtrack

All you baby boomers
Feigning dismay
You hired the nanny
You faked her resume

On the moshing floor
Whatever, whatever
On the moshing floor
Whatever, whatever

Whatever stage, whatever floor
Hangtime, hangtime
And it's 1, 2, 3, 4
What are we diving for?

No guru, no mother
No method, no smile
Nice style, bad form
Is the body still warm?

I wanna do that crawl

Malls and religion
Build the new forts
Jesus is a franchise
In their food courts

Who needs commitment?
You gargle, then spit
Just like the home team
In the moshing pit

Whatever stage, whatever floor
Hangtime, hangtime
And it's 1, 2, 3, 4
What are we diving for?

On the moshing floor
Whatever, whatever
On the moshing floor
Whatever, whatever

No guru, no mother
No mother, no method
Nice style, bad form
Is the body still warm?

Whatever stage, whatever floor
Hangtime, hangtime
And it's 1, 2, 3, 4
What are we diving for?

On the moshing floor
Whatever, whatever
On the moshing floor
Whatever, whatever

No guru, no mother
No mother, no method
No method, no style,
Nice style, bad form

On the moshing floor
Whatever, whatever
On the moshing floor
Whatever, whatever

No guru, no mother
No method, no smile
Nice style, bad form
Everybody's stillborn

Recorded Appearances

Albums

Compilations

Promos

Bootlegs

About The Song

From Squintlets, "The Lament..." promotional Squint CD, 1993:

The Moshing Floor; the germ of that idea came after a concert that Chagall Guevara did which was like absolute mayhem. Probably the key to the song is on the third verse--"Malls and religion / build the new forts / Jesus is a franchise / in the food courts"--it's like Jesus is nothing more than just something you pick off a menu and mix in with whatever else you want to have and call it a philosophy or whatever.

From Steve Taylor on Staring into the Sun: Squint or You'll Miss It, True Tunes News, Winter 1993:

The moshing part, in many ways, is no more significant than when I wrote "This Disco." It's just using a dance to describe life. I have nothing against moshing--except for the time when I dove from the stage and the crowd miraculously parted like the Red Sea--but there's something about a bunch of people bouncing off each other that really represents a lot of different things. You've got all these baby-boomers wringing their hands saying "what's going on?" I'm saying "what do you mean? You caused this. You hired the nanny to raise your kids, what are you talking about?" I like the third verse when it says "Malls and religion, build the new forts. Jesus is a franchise, in your food courts." Jesus has become just one more thing to grab and throw into your philosophical bag. It really has nothing to do with moshing other than it was a convenient metaphor. Hopefully there's a lot more under the surface.

From Interviews: Steve Taylor, Cornerstone Magazine, Q1(?) 1994:

Do you see the dichotomy between the active faith of your parents and the laissez-faire approach to family in the nineties?

Oh, yeah. For those in this generation that were raised this way, Jesus is just something you grab a little bit of with your smorgasbord.

Between the Swedish meatballs and the lasagna, between the materialism and the self-fulfillment or counseling or whatever?

Yeah, right, exactly. I touched on all that in "The Moshing Floor" when I said, "Malls and religion / build the new forts." Really, it's sort of amusing to see parents wringing their hands over "Beavis and Butthead" or moshing. The line "All you baby boomers / feigning dismay / you hired the nanny / you faked her resume," was a way of saying, Hey, you guys made this, so why are you asking psychiatrists what's going on? These are the very fruits of your labor.

Or lack of labor--letting culture raise your kids.

Right, and I don't take the whole thing too seriously. There's always different expressions going; stage diving is just the latest one. I don't think it's evil or anything. There's all kinds of metaphors when you look at whatever new craze there is. As far as moshing, I sorta liked the thought of people bouncing off of each other and reacting instead of acting.

From The Flying Chicken, The Monkey Temple, The Cotton Castle, Campus Life, March 1994:

The moshing floor is the landing pad for stage divers. It's also a metaphor for the end of the 20th century, where the only action is reaction ("whatever, whatever"), and all commitment to principles gets lost in the free fall.